Away and Back
by Beezeecade
Summary: Naruto gets fed up and runs away from Konoha. Where will he go and what will he become? Even worse, how will the Kyuubi affect him? Most likely NaruHina. Rated T for future language and content.
1. Prologue

Away and Back - Prologue

This is my first fanfic so don't judge. I really hope for some reviews soon or I might lose the motivation for this story. I'm not really sure if this is a good idea or where it's going to go so if you have any feedback or ideas, just put it in your reviews. Anyway, on with the story!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

[START]

Naruto walked into the Hokage's office and saw the Third sitting at his desk. He sat down on the chair on the other side of it. Naruto was here for a "conference" with the old man he considered his grandfather. It couldn't have been any good; he wasn't smiling like he usually was when he saw Naruto. Instead, his face was expressionless.

"How are you today, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked, looking at the eight-year-old-blonde with a calm steady gaze.

"I'm fine, Jiji. What did you want to tell me?" Naruto asked, already tired of the Hokage's beating around the bush. He was a lot more mature than others gave him credit for.

Sarutobi cleared his throat, trying not to think too much of Naruto's tart tone of voice. "It seems as if the village doesn't enjoy your pranks as much as you do, Naruto. They want you to stop."

Naruto was immediately defending himself. "I can't do that! Pranks are what keep me s-sane here! I can't give them up!"

Sarutobi tried to reason with him but he was interrupted.

"You d-don't understand!" Naruto sobbed. "Everyone h-hates me! They call m-me a demon and everything! They call me a demon... a dem-mon..." Naruto trailed off and looked down dejectedly, tears streaming down his marked cheeks. He couldn't understand why everyone hated him and called him a demon and monster and stuff like that. What did he do to them? They would chase him and beat him to a bloody mess. No one ever cared about him except for the old man.

Images of angry faces and bloody weapons swam into Naruto's mind. He sobbed harder and harder until his throat felt dry and his face was slick with tears. He couldn't shake the images of torture from his mind.

The Sandaime hated to see Naruto like this, crying so much with no way to actually comfort him like parents could with their children. The beatings the villagers put him through must've been extremely bad for Naruto to be so... defeated. He was just eight after all! Sadness washed over the old man as the boy in front of him slowly stopped crying. "Naruto..." Sarutobi trailed off, not knowing what to say. He sighed, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

"I'm leaving," Naruto suddenly said, still sniffling. The old man's head jerked up at this. "I'm tired of seeing the villagers glaring at me every time I walk past them. They call me demon and monster and fox brat and I don't even know why! I can't live here anymore!"

Sarutobi sighed and closed his eyes again. "Naruto, I promise that one day... One day, I'll change everything... Naruto?" Sarutobi opened his eyes, only to find an empty chair and a wide open window.

[END]

Well, what do you think? Is it a good idea? Any suggestions as to where this should go? Remember to help this newbie fanfic writer and read and review!

Ja ne!

K.N.


	2. Chapter 1

Away and Back - Chapter 1

This came out of nowhere. Well, at least it's a bit longer than my last chapter so that's good, right? Now, you can go read and tell me what you think later... I hope.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

[START]

Naruto ran full-speed through the streets, getting a few confused looks from the villagers. He pumped his arms harder trying to get to the gates as fast as he could. Tears flew out of his eyes, leaving wet spots on the ground behind him.

Finally, Naruto reached the gates. He saw two guards standing there and walked up to one of them. The guard crouched down.

"Where are you going, demon brat?" the guard sneered, ruffling the boy's hair.

At the word "demon," Naruto's bottom lip trembled and tears welled up in his eyes.

"What's the matter? Do you want your mommy?" the guard said in a mocking tone.

Finally, Naruto lost it. "I HATE YOU! You-you-you VILLAGERS! You're so mean! I HATE YOU! I'M LEAVING!" Naruto screamed, the tears spilling over and running down his cheeks. With that, he finally put his days at the academy to use and ran past the village gates, past the guards, and into the forest surrounding Konoha, leaving a mysterious trail of killing intent behind him.

The guards looked at each other and the one who had talked to Naruto jumped towards the Hokage Tower. "Hokage-sama!" the guard shouted as soon as he got to the Hokage's office.

"What is it?" Sarutobi asked, looking up from doing his dreaded paperwork.

"The demon just left the village and headed into the forest!" The guard reported, standing at attention. Then, realizing what he just said, he started to apoligize. A kunai pierced his heart before he could finish. The guard dropped to the ground, dead.

Sarutobi glared at the man who had broke his law in front of his face. Then his expression became somber. _I was so sure Naruto would change his mind and come back. I didn't thnk he would actually leave_, Sarutobi thought. Then his resolve hardened. _Those ungrateful assholes… Once they hear my announcement tonight, oh will they regret what they did._ With that, he summoned his most trusted ANBU, four that knew understood that Naruto was just a boy and no demon. "Cat, Dog, Hawk, Bear," the Sandaime greeted. The four raised their hands to their heads in a salute. "Spread word in the village. Tell the villagers to go to the Town Square tonight and say that the matter to be discussed is urgent. Dismissed." The ANBU swiftly jumped out of the windows and sped off in different directions. Sarutobi knew there was no way he could find Naruto once he was in the forest. He should know. The Jounin and Chuunin in the village had always complained to him how Naruto always got away with his pranks, mainly because no one could find him.

Sarutobi sighed deeply and glanced at the crystal ball on his desk. Making up his mind, he focused his chakra into it and watched as Naruto traveled deeper and deeper into the forest.

* * *

><p>Naruto shuddered as a breeze blew through the trees. He was used to being alone in the forest, but back then, he could always go back to the village. This time, he wouldn't be able to. He would have to go somewhere else. On the bright side, he wouldn't have to be beaten by the villagers anymore or would he have to endure the cold, angry looks that everyone, save fore the old man Hokage, gave him. He smiled at that.<p>

"**You sure know how to cheer yourself up but what are you going to do now?"** A voice suddenly said.

Naruto stopped walking and was immediately on guard. He quickly turned around in a full circle, looking carefully at the foliage of trees around him but saw nothing. Now, he wasn't stupid. He just acted that way to get the villagers off of his tail, saying he was going to "destroy them all" or something. If he had to give his opinion, he would say he was smarter than everyone in his class, except for Shikamaru and _maybe_ Sasuke. "Who's there?" He yelled out into the trees. When he got no response, he tried again. "Show yourself!"

"**If you insist…"**

Naruto suddenly felt himself losing consciousness. He fought it for a minute, not sure what type of trick this was, but he made no progress in "waking" himself up. He reluctantly gave in to the darkness invading his mind. When he open his eyes, he was in a sewer-like landscape. There were pipes everywhere on the ceiling. When he stood up, he noticed he was standing ankle deep in murky water. There was a dark feeling in this place. The most notable thing in the room was a gigantic cage with a paper that had the kanji for seal on it. "Seal… What's inside the cage then?" He got an answer.

"**So, kit, I finallly get to meet you."** A demonic voice said to him.

Even though Naruto didn't know who the speaker was yet, he had a strange intuition that it was female. He squinted at the cage and noticed a vague furry shape inside it. He cautiously walked closer to it and finally he was close enough to see what the cage held: the Kyuubi no Kitsune. "Kyuubi…" Surprisingly, his voice held no fear whatsoever. It only held shock at realizing the Kyuubi was female. "Where are we?"

The Kyuubi hmm-ed thoughtfully before answering. **"We're in your mindscape, kit. Do you know why?"** She looked at the small blonde in front of her, waiting for an answer patiently.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "If this is my mindscape… and you're in my mindscape… That means you're inside me… So judging from the paper on this cage and your appearance, you're the Kyuubi no Kitsune and you're sealed inside me?" He looked up at the fox for a confirmation.

"**Yes, kit. I guess you aren't as stupid as you act,"** the Kyuubi said, an amused look in her eyes.

"Wow, Kyuubi. For the strongest bijuu of the nine, you're nicer than I thought." Then a thought struck Naruto. "So if this is who you really are… Then why did you attack Konoha all those years ago?"

A look of grief and pain crossed the Kyuubi's face, one that Naruto knew all too well from his own experiences. The Kyuubi turned away and retreated to the back of the cage, where Naruto couldn't see her. Apparently, Naruto already knew she was female, and she was glad she didn't have to tell him. It caused her little happiness, though, as the feeling of sadness washed it away. **"Call me Kibo, kit, not Kyuubi. That's only my title."**

Naruto couldn't help but notice the strained voice of the Kyuubi and how she didn't answer his question. "I-I'm s-sorry for asking… K-kibo." He felt utterly alone in his own mind as soon as Kibo had left him. To Naruto, Kibo had just become a friend to him, demon or not, and he had damaged the bond before it was even fully formed. He looked down shamefully and turned around until his back was facing Kibo. He understood the fox's pain, as he could feel a part of it too. It was the same as how he felt when he watched all of his classmates, except for Sasuke, go walk away from the Ninja Academy with their parents. It was a strong, yearning feeling that wouldn't go away no matter how happy one was. He stood there sadly, remembering all the times he had come home to an empty apartment. Yes, he understood Kibo's pain very well.

His breath hitched when he was suddenly lifted off of the "ground" by something very soft and orange. It took him a while to realize it was the Kyuubi's tail. He panicked when he noticed it was carrying him past the bars of the cage but relaxed when he felt the tail wrap around him… almost as if Kibo was hugging him.

* * *

><p>To say the Sandaime was worried was an understatement. He was having an all out panic attack in his office. Who wouldn't, after seeing your surrogate grandson suddenly drop to the floor? However, he quickly calmed himself and closely watched what was happening to Naruto, usinghis crystal ball. He knew he couldn't be dead because of the emotions flitting across his face: happiness, sadness, pain, grief, etc. The thing he was most worried about was Naruto finding out about the Kyuubi. He didn't know how the young blonde would take it. What he didn't know was that he was already too late… Not that Naruto would let him know it, though.<p>

[END]

Wow, it only took me a day to upload this one. Oh, right. I'm procrastinating because I don't want to do my homework. Yes, I know Kibo is OC but I didn't want Naruto to have no one to help him right from the start so, yeah... Theses updates are going to be scattered so don't be surprised if I update after one day and the next tim it's a month. I have school and a lot of homework.

**POLL**: Where should Naruto go now that he's left?

Go to my profile to vote.

Remember to read and review!

Ja ne!

K.N.


	3. Chapter 2

Away and Back - Chapter 2

Gomen, gomen, for not updating in such a long time for those of you who _were_ waiting for the next chapter. I had a very busy summer vacation. I'm going to high school, 9th grade, in September, I'm nervous, and I have summer homework that is taking a long time. I also kind of lost inspiration for this story somewhat. I did this really quickly, so it isn't that good. So... go ahead and read it... and maybe be bored.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Naruto awoke with a start and sat up.<p>

_CRACK!_

Naruto's head whipped around to look at the trace of the sound: his hand. His hand had snapped a twig when he sat up, and the silence of the forest made it seem louder than it really was. Then he noticed that everything was dark; it was nighttime. _Wow, how long was I out?_ Slowly, he got up, being extra careful not to make anymore noise.

Suddenly, everything came rushing back to him like an avalanche, and slowly, his gaze traveled down to his abdomen. Naruto lifted his clothes, channeled a small amount of chakra, and watched as a very intricate-looking seal appear on his stomach. Then, as slowly as before, he released the clothes. "So… So that was all real? The fox and everything?" Naruto whispered to himself. He was not expecting an answer.

**"Yeah, kit, that was real. You weren't dreaming,"** a voice said in his head.

"Kibo?" Naruto whispered into the night air. "Where are you? I can't see you."

Kibo sweatdropped. **"I'm inside your head, remember? You can just think what you want to say and I'll hear it."**

_Like this?_

**"Yeah, like that. Well, now that we can talk without anyone knowing, you should find somewhere to go first."**

_But… the only place I know is Konoha… Where can I go?_

Kibo sighed. **"Hold on, I'll find out what village my brothers and sisters are in." **Kibo reached out with her own chakra to find chakra signatures similar to her own. **"The Ichibi no Shukaku is in Sunagakure. You'll get there if you keep head northeast from your current loca-"** She stopped talking when she sensed a group of unfamiliar chakra signatures near Naruto. **"Naruto, DUCK!"**

Not even thinking about it, he ducked as a fuuma shuriken passed over his head.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the demon," Naruto heard someone say to his left.

He immediately turned around and squinted into the darkness. Suddenly everything became clearer. _Thanks, Kibo._

**"Stay alert,"** warned Kibo, who had added a tiny amount of her chakra to Naruto's eyes so he could see better in the dark.

Someone stepped into Naruto's vision and he did a double-take when he saw who it was. "Mizuki-sensei?"

"I'm surprised you're still calling me that, demon," Mizuki sneered.

Naruto didn't say anything. He was trying to figure out how he could get away from Konoha without causing too much trouble. Plus, he was shocked that it was Mizuki.

"Why so quiet? Are you scared?" Mizuki said, smirking. "You should be, because I'm going to enjoy torturing and killing you tonight and avenge everyone you killed ten years ago."

Naruto was still quiet. He glanced at the fuuma shuriken on Mizuki's back, a plan formulating in his head. _Kibo, lend me some chakra._

**"Sure thing, kit."**

Naruto could feel the demonic chakra rush through his body. A red aura formed him, making Mizuki's smirk disappear. Demonic chakra was three times more potent than regular chakra and it was filled with malevolent feeling. Naruto dropped into a defensive stance and waited for Mizuki to make his move.

Mizuki could feel the killer intent in the air and shuddered. _So the demon finally shows himself._ Grabbing the fuuma shuriken from his back, he reared back his arm and flung it at Naruto with all his might, enhancing the power of the throw with chakra. His eyes widened when his target was no longer there. _How…? How can he move so fast?_ His shuriken became embedded in the ground with a _thunk._ Mizuki's eyes searched wildly around for Naruto. He was surprised when he saw Naruto standing eight feet in front of him with his shuriken in his hand, ready to throw it.

As soon as Mizuki had thrown the shuriken, Naruto had sighed and ran out of the way, using Kibo's chakra to increase his speed. The reason he had not used his own was because when he had practiced with it, he never moved fast enough. He had tried to avoid having to kill Mizuki, but it seemed like he had to anyway. Now, he grabbed tightly onto the shuriken, ran towards Mizuki in a zig-zag formation, avoiding the kunais and shurikens that were being thrown at him, and using the last of Kibo's borrowed chakra, suddenly put on a burst of speed.

Mizuki was caught with surprise not because he was punched in the face, but because of the strength behind the punch. His nose was bleeding, telling him it was broken, but he ignored it momentarily.

Naruto, seeing the downed Mizuki, took his chance. He jumped into the air, using his own chakra this time, and threw the shuriken at Mizuki. He could see that Mizuki was surprised when it had impaled his chest. Landing by his head, Naruto watched on indifferently as Mizuki tried to speak, but was having trouble due to the blood in his windpipe. With one last glare, the Chuunin died.

Unable to help himself, Naruto shed a tear. However, it wasn't because he was sad for the death of Mizuki, though there was some of it mixed in there. It was because it was his first kill. He never liked hurting others, it just wasn't his way. _I guess I better get used to it… I'll have a lot more enemies to take on._

**"Don't worry about it now, kit. Now, let's head northeast to Suna," **Kibo said soothingly. Personally, she was proud that Naruto had come up with a strategy like that.

Naruto nodded and jumped into the trees. He was a lot stronger than people thought he was. He was just really good at hiding it. A lot smarter too. There was no way the people of Konoha, or most of it, at least, would let him live if they knew that the "demon" was getting stronger. Heading northeast, he prayed that whatever life lay ahead of him in Suna, it would be better than the one he had at Konoha.

_Goodbye, old man. Goodbye, Iruka-nii-san. Goodbye, Ichiraku-san, Ayame-nee-chan. Goodbye, Hinata-chan. Goodbye, Kakashi-nii-san, even though I don't know you that well._

_I'll see you guys again… soon._

* * *

><p>Hope you guys liked that. I don't really like it myself. Hope I can get the next chapter up before school starts.<p>

In case anyone noticed or remembered, I know I put Naruto down as 10 years old in this chapter and it says 8 years old in the first. It's just I thought that it would be better if he got stronger and was older.

Remember to leave a couple of reviews!

Ja ne!

K.N.


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